RUSSIA'S Svetlana Masterkova followed up her 800 and 1,500 metre Olympic wins by setting a new world record of 2 minutes 28.98 seconds at the Van Damme Memorial Grand Prix meeting in Brussels last night.

Morocco's Salah Hissou, a bronze medallist in the Atlanta Olympics, also got in on the act by setting a new 10,000m world record.

They both collected around £20,000 each after magnificent runs in front of a 40,000 crowd.

Hissou clocked 26 min 38.09 sec to beat the previous best mark of 26 min 43.53 sec set by Haile Gebreselassi of Ethiopia in Holland in June 1995.

Masterkova, who also set a new best mark for the mile on August 14th in Zurich, once more turned on the style at the King Baudouin stadium to push Mozambique's Maria Mutola into second place.

Mutola had held the previous record for the event of 2 min 29.34 sec set here last year. This time around, she could only manage 2 min 29.66 sec.

Masterkova thus carried on her winning streak, which in Atlanta saw her become only the second female athlete after Tatyana Kazankina in 1976 to race to Olympic gold in both the 800m and 1,500m.

Allen Johnson, the US Olympic champion and world champion, meanwhile, recorded a best time in the world this year of 12.92 see in the 110m hurdles.

Johnson saw off the challenge of Britain's Colin Jackson, who timed 13.24 see on a rainy evening to finish just 0.01 sec outside his own world mark.

In the men's 100m, Dennis Mitchell, who finished outside the medals in Atlanta, gained a consolation by edging out world and Olympic champion and world record holder, Donovan Bailey of Canada.

Mitchell came home in 10.03 sec, with Bailey clocking 10.09, well off his mark of 9.84. Carl Lewis, carrying a slight injury, was third in 10.10.

A former Olympic champion, Linford Christie, was fifth in 10.14 sec, 0.02 see behind Olympic bronze medallist Ate Boldon of Trinidad.

Last night's meet, the third leg of the Golden Four, saw reigning US Olympic champion Gail Devers set a venue record of 10.84 sec in the women's 100m ahead of Olympic bronze winner Gwen Torrence and Merlene Ottey, whom Devers beat into, second place in Atlanta.

Elsewhere, Italy's Roberta Brunet set a venue record of 14:48.96 to snatch the 5,000m ahead of Portugal's Fernanda Ribeiro, the 10,000m Olympic champion.

The Swedish 100m hurdles Olympic champion, Ludmila Engquist, won in 12.6 sec despite four false starts. US Olympic champion Derrick Adkins won the 400m hurdles in 47.93 sec ahead of Zambia's Samuel Matete and Australia's Rohan Robinson.

Britain's Jonathan Edwards kept a tight hold on one of the keys to a golden treasure chest with another emphatic 17.50m leap to win the triple jump. Edwards' displayed plenty of character to overcome a twinge in his back in the first round and beat Cuban Yoelvis Quesada (17.29m), with Olympic champion Kenny Harrison back in fourth place.

With one "Golden Four" meeting to come in Berlin next Friday, Edwards is among six athletes in with a chance of sharing £160,000 worth of gold bars for a 100 per cent record.

But it was another disappointing Grand Prix night for Colin Jackson and Linford Christie, neither of whom have won a major race on the circuit this season. Jackson was level with Johnson after four of the 10 harriers, but Johnson then pulled away to underline his position as undisputed world number one.

Johnson said: "It proves I still have some juice left after the Games. Maybe I'll break the record this year, maybe it will be next season.

Michael Johnson swapped the gold shoes which carried him to an Olympic 200 and 400 metre double for a bright purple pair for his return after a hamstring injury. But some things never change and the Texan poured it, on round the top bend to win the 400 in 44.29, with British pair Jamie Baulch and Mark Richardson back in filth and eighth places.